Spring-jack for telegraph-switchboards.



ITo. 757,785. PATEN'IED APR. 19, 1904.

J. F. SKIRROW. I

SPRING JACK FOR TELEGRAPH SWITGHBOARDS.

APPLIOATION FILED D10. 16. 1903. H0 IODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented April 19, 1904.

JOHN F. SKIRROW, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

SPRING-JACK FOR TELEGRAPH-SWITCHBOARDS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 757,785, dated April 19, 1904.

Application filed December 16, 1903- Serial No. 185,352. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. SKIRRoW, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, county of Essex, State of New Jersey,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Jacks for Telegraph-Switchboards, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view; Fig. 2, a side elevation; Fig. 3, a front elevation; Fig. 4, a transverse sectional view through the cardholder on the line IV IV of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 a detail view of the card removed from the card-holder.

The object of this invention is to provide a spring-jack of simple and durable construction which will be efficient and wherein the jack will have permanently secured to it a holder or device to receive a card bearing an identifying-symbol by which the wire or conductor connected permanently to the jack and the conductor temporarily and detachably connected thereto may be readily identified.

Referring to the various parts by numerals, 1 designates a block of porcelain or other suitable non-conducting material provided with the forward projecting boss or enlargement 2 near its lower end. This boss is formed with a recess or slot 3, which extends upward from the lower end thereof, and on the bottom of this slot is firmly secured a contact-piece 1.

To the porcelain block above the enlargement is permanently secured a forward projecting pivot-post 4, which projects between the rearward-extending jaws 50f the upper part 6 of the contact-lever or movable contact 6. A horizontal pivot 7 extends through said jaws and the pivot-post. From thelower end of the straight vertical part 6 of the contact-lever of the jack said lever curves outward and downward, its lower end normally lying in the recess or slot 3 between the side walls 2 thereof and bearing on the contactpiece therein. Between the upper end of the vertical part of the jack and the porcelain block is placed an expansible coil-spring 8, said spring yieldingly holding the lower end of the jack against the contact-piece in the recess 3 of the porcelain block. Above the contact-lever are permanently secured two binding-posts 9 and 10, one of which, 9, is electrically connected on the contact piece 4, the other being similarly connected to the contact-lever through the pivot-post.

To the outer or forward face of the vertical part 6 of the spring lever or jack is permanently secured a card-holder 11. This holder consists of a flat metal plate whose vertical edges are bent inward to form the flanges 12, between which the indicator-card 13 is adapted to fit and slide. Screw 14 secures said holder to the spring-jack, said screw passing through it near the lower edge thereof, the head of the screw projecting forward beyond the flanges of the holder and acting as a stop to limit the downward movement of the card in the cardholder. The card, which is adapted to bear the symbols identifying the wires connected to the jack, is recessed at its lower end to receive said screw-head. To protect the card and to prevent the symbols marked thereon from becoming eifaced or blurred, a coverpiece 15, of thin transparent celluloid or other suitable material, of the same shape as the indicating-card may he slid in the card-holder, this cover-piece being also cut out at its lower end to fit over the screw 13. It will be thus seen that the card-holder forms practically a permanent part of the spring-jack and that the card placed therein will be securely and permanently held in position, so that the wires connected to said jack may be readily and easily identified. It is equally clear that the cards may be as readily changed as the plugs which are inserted between the spring-jack and contact 4, so that a new card with new identifying-symbolsthereon may be placed in the holder whenever the wires connected to the spring-jacks are changed. 4

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A spring-jack comprising, a block of nonconducting material formed with an enlargement thereon near its lower end, said enlargement being vertically slotted or recessed from its lower end upward, a contact-piece in said slot or recess, a contact-lever pivoted above said enlargement and formed with a vertical upper part and with a downward and inward curved lower part the lower end of which extends into the vertical recess or slot of the block and bears against the contact therein, a spring inserted between the upper end of'the Vertical part of the lever and the block to normally maintain the lower end of the lever against the contact in the recess, a card-holder permanently secured to the vertical part of the jack by a screw having a forward-projecting head, a card adapted to fit said card-holder and formed with a recess to fit over said connecting-screw, and a cover-piece of transparentlnaterial of the same shape as the card and adapted to fit between the flanges of the cardholder plate.

2. A spring-jack comprising, a block of nonconducting material formed with a forwardprojecting enlargement near its lower end said enlargement being vertically slotted or recessed from its lower end upward, a rigid contact-piece in said slot or recess the walls of said slot projecting beyond the forward face of said contact-piece, a contact-lever pivoted above said enlargement and formed with a downward and inward curved lower part, the lower end of which extends into the recess in the enlargement and bears against the permanent contact therein, a spring acting on said lever and normally maintaining the lowerend thereof against the permanent contact in the recess of the block, and a card-holder permanently attached to said contact-lever and adapted to hold a removable card bearing identifying-symbols.

3. Aspring-jack comprising, asuitable support, a pivot-post secured thereto, a rigid contact-piece secured thereto below the pivotpost, a contact-lever pivoted on said post, a spring acting against said lever to force its lower end into engagement with the rigid contact, a non-conducting wall or part extending outward on each side of the rigid contact and embracing between them the lower end of the lever, a card-holder rigidly connected to said lever and adapted to receive a card, a coverstrip of transparent material, and means for adapted to fit said card-holder and formed with a recess to receive the said projecting screwhead, anda cover-piece of transparent material of the same shape as the card and adapted to fit in the card-holder, and to be held therein by the projecting screw-head.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this 10th day of December, 1903.

J OHN F. SKIRROW.

Witnesses:

F. A. NORMAN, H. S. FINNEY. 

